Cover retaining device



Marh 24, 1959 'Filed Dec. 12, 1956 M. R. STROHEIM 7 2,878,931

COVER RETAINING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mmaw.

ATTORUGXS.

Filed Dec. 12, 1956 R. STROHEIM COVER RETAINING DEVICE 7- ZOI 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HTTORA/GYS I 2,878,931 h h r COVER RETAINING DEVICE MilrettaRoseStroheim,

C. W. Zumbiel Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corpora-" tion of Ohio Application December 12, 1956, Serial No. 627,883 f y 2 Claims. (Cl. 206-65)- This invention relates to a device for holding a cover 6r lid in positio'non the mouth ofa receptacle to protect the lid'and receptacle from damage or breakage during" shipment and handling. Y One of the primary objectives has been to'provide ade vice of this characterwhich is simple, of inexpensive construction, "and which may be applied or removed very quickly and conveniently.

=The'retaining device is intended particularly for 'con- :tainers or receptacles fabricated from ceramic materials, glass and the like, which may be chipped, cracked or lbroken when subjected to impacts. A conventional tea-- pot formed of glazed ceramic material best discloses the principles of theinvention and has been selected for pur-' poses of illustratit an; The teapot disclosed herein com-' prises a. thick-walledceramic vessel having an open mouth delineated byari' outwardly and upwardly flaring lip or l'brim,with= a lid loosely fitted into the open mouth. r I, "It is the usual practice, when packaging a number of rteapo'ts (or generally similar articles) in av container or carton, to pack a'cushioning material between the several- ;pots to prevent their glazed surfaces from contacting one :another. Since thelid is fitted loosely in the mouth of each teapotjthelids may be enclosed in a'soft wrapping material and placed in positionin the mouth to prevent: Wrappinganddamage. On the other hand,'the lids may be packaged' in the same carton but separate fromthe teapots. t

- When theteapots are to be placed on the shelf of the retail store for display and sale, it is necessary that the" individual-lids'be unwrappedan'd placed in the position" of normal use'in the mouth of each teapot. It frequently happens that in'handling the unpacked teapots in the re-' tail store, the salesperson r purchaser may allow the loosely fitted lid? to drop from the teapot causing breakage. It is one of the specific objectives of this'invention' to. provide a lid retaining device stamped from flat cardboard or other fibrous sheet material, =which'may be snapped in' position over the-top of the lid and into clinching engage-' ment withvthe outwardly flaring lip tosretain .the lidsecurely in position during shipment and handling.

.Another object has been to providea retaining device which cushions'thelid with respect ato thernouth of the receptacle, .While holding the lid downwardlyin position; thereby t'o' prevent rattling and possible chipping of the parts during shipment and handling. Briefly therefore; the retaining, device may. be applied to each receptacle or teapot When'it is originally packed and maybe left in .position when the article is placed on displayor sale, thereby protecting and keeping the parts from beingseparated until the teapots are in the hands of the ultimatev user or pure.

S tes 7 r Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The I iii? 3 lies the loose lid or cover.

2,878,931 Patented Mar. 24, 1959 r Ingeneral, the device comprisesa flat blank, including a central body and a pair of retaining bands which are delineated by severance lines and arranged to be sprung downwardly intd clinching engagern'ent with the lip or brim ofthe receptacle. The cen-' i tralbody further includes a pair of cushioning flaps, also delineated by severance lines,-which may be'bent dowri wardlyto'reside'between the opposite sides of the lid and mouth of the teapot-to cushion' and space the two surfaces v V from one'another. The cushioning flaps preferably reside at right angles to the retaining bands, the arrangement being-such that the bands exert a pull-down force upon the central body of 'the retainer, thereby holding the lid in position in the mouth of the-receptacle, while the cushioning flaps prevent actual contact of the two parts;

MThe retainersrarepreferably'stamped in a simple manner ifromcardboard or similar sheet stock in a single blanking and cutting Yoperation; 'they are furnished in flat condition to the user. The inside diameter of the retaining bands are approximately the same, or slightly smaller than-the outside diameter of the lip over which they-are fOfit. 11;; M

;0The retainer'isapplied to the lid or cover with the cushioning flaps bent downwardly, such that they reside at opposite sides: of the lid; The lid and the retainer as a unit cthereafter is placed in position in the mouth of the receptacle, the retaining band:at'one side is pulled downwardly: to its brim-engaging positiomthen the retainer is shifted laterally to allow the opposite retaining band to be pulled down into engagement with the brim at theopposite-sides. Since the cushioning flaps reside along opposite sides of the lid, they are disposed between the normal meeting surfaces of the lid and mouth. of the receptacle to ipreventi'attling and possible damage during shipment and handling. i v

A particular advantage of the present construction arises from the fact thatthe retaining bands increase their'gripping action with respect to the circular lip 'when the cover pulled upwardly The fupward force upon the central body portion of the-retainer. creates a camming action be tween ,the surface of the flared. lip and the bearing surfaces ofthe retaining bands which contact the lip. Accordingly, the lid is held firmly in place even if the teapot is held in an inverted position; in actual use, the retainer has suflicient strength to allowthe receptacle to be lifted by its 1id.- On the other hand, the :retainer may be removed very readily, simply by pulling (one of the retaining bands in a lateral direction to allow it to clear the edge of the lip'or brim for release, then releasing the opposite band inthe same manner. J For purposes of disclosure, the retainer is generally circular in shape conforming to the circular teapot brim for which it is intended. However,, it will readily be apparent that the, device maybe applied to receptacles or similar articles of various shape, utilizing the principles of this invention, the retaining bands being shaped to fit the conchaser. In addition to .these advantages ithe epresent I61 taining device is 'quicklyand conveniently applied and; removed and thereby. eliminates the tirne and effort. of wrapping and unwrapping the individuallidsor covers. g The device of thislinvention takes advantage of the outwardly flaringor beaded brim, of, the. receptacle ,to pro-Q vide the clinching engagement of the retainer which over figuration of the brim to which it is clinched. The retainer which is selected to exemplify the invention prefer-. ably is provided with a panel which provides a printingsurface for advertising or other information relating to the receptacle upon which the retainer is applied.

' 'l he'various features and advantages of the invention are disclosed in greater detail in the following description,

Figure 1, illustrating the relationship of the cushioning flaps and upper portion of the teapot.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 1, illustrating the locking portion of the retaining bands in relation to the brim of the teapot. Figure 5 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 4, showing the retainer being applied to the teapot.

Described generally with referenceto Figure 1, the;

teapot 10, which has been selected to illustrate the utility of the invention, is of conventional design, having a handle 11 and a pouring spout 12. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the teapot is formed of glazed ceramic material having a relatively thick wall to retain heat. The top, opening or mouth of the pot is delineated by a circular lip or brim 13, the upper portion of which flares upwardly;

4 to cause the flaps to spring naturally toward one another and against opposite sides of the lid. Accordingly, the flaps offer no interference when the lid is placed in position in the open mouth of the teapot. In this position, as shown in Figure 3, the cushioning flaps 32 extend at an angle across the internal surface of brim 13 and across the internal bead 15 which delineates shoulder 16. Accordingly, the rim 21 of the lid rests upon that portion 36 of the flaps which yieldably span the internal bead and brim surface. Therefore, the lid is yieldably supported at diametrically opposite sides upon the yieldable portions 36 of the cushioning flaps.

It will be noted in Figure 4, that the arcuate severance I lines 26 of the retainer bands delineate an inside diameter of the usual profile projects upwardly from the lid, for

convenient handling. The skirt portion 18 loosely interfits the opening delineated by the internal bead 15 and the rim 21.loosely interfits the inside diameter of the mouth above the internal bead 15. I When in normal use, rim 21 of the lid rests directly upon the shoulder 16 of the opening. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the re-. tainer device, indicated generally at 23 confines the lid in position within the open mouth but spaces the lid surfaces from the surfaces of the mouth.

Referring to Figure 2, retainer 23 comprises a flat blank formed of sheet material, for example, heavy paper, cardboard, or other fibrous material. In the present example, the blank retainer 23, as furnished to the .user, is generally circular and includes a panel 24 joined to the blank along the score line 25. The panel, which is gen erally square, provides an area upon which advertising material or the like may be printed. The blank is provided with a pair of arcuate cuts 26-26 spaced inwardly.

from the edge of the blank and concentric with its outer edge. The cuts or severance lines 26 delineate a pair of diametrically opposedretainer bands 27-27 and a central body 28. It will be noted that the severance lines 26 have their opposite ends spaced from one another; accordingly, the retainer bands 27 are joined to the cen-" tral body between the ends of the severance lines at diametrically opposite sides as at 30. The central body of the blank includes an opening 31 to receive the knob 22 of the lid. 1

which is slightly smaller than the outside diameter 14 of the flaring brim 13. In applying the retainer, the retainer band 27 at one side is pulled downwardly with the fingers until it resides at the lower portion of the outwardly flaring brim 13. In Figure 5, the left hand retainer band, which includes the panel 24, is shown in full linesin its engaged position. the entire retainer is pulled to the right as indicated by the arrow, thus bringing the inner edge of the right hand band 27 in alignment with the upper edge of the brim.

This band is then forced downwardly to the position shown in Figure 4 to its lip-engaging position. In this position, both bands spring upwardly into engagement against opposite .sides of the flaring brim. It will be seen therefore, that the retainer takes advantage of the 1 On the other hand, if it is desired to remove the retainer In addition to the retaining bands 27, theblank further includes a pair of cushioning tabs or flaps 32, the sides and end of each flap being delineated by the severance lines 33. Each flap 32 may have its outer end delineated by a score line 34, such thatthe flaps may be bent downwardly as shown in Figure 3. It will be noted that the flaps 32 are located at right angles to the opposed'retainer bands 27. It will also be noted that the inner ends of the cushioning flaps 32 terminate short of the central opening 31 to provide the connecting sections 35 on opposite sides of hole 31. 1 1

In applying the retainer to the teapot, in the present example, the retainer is first slipped down over upon the knob 22 and over the lid. The lid may then be lifted from the open mouth to allow the cushioning flaps 32 to be sprung downwardly against opposite sides of the skirt portion 18 of the lid as shown in Figure 3. It will be noted that the cushioning flaps have sufficient length to extend downwardly a substantial distance below the rim 21 of the lid and along the skirt.

When the cushioning flaps are bent downwardly beneath the rim of the lid, they bend along their score lines 34 outwardly flared profile of the brim to provide positive engagement of the retainer bands. Moreover, the upward springing action of the bands tends to force the lid downwardly into engagement with the cushioning flaps.

The retainer creates a self-gripping action to prevent forcible removal of the lid, and in practice, will permit the entire teapot to be lifted without detaching-the lid. When a pulling force is applied to the knob and lid as indicated by the arrow in Figure 4, the central body 28 of the retainer is bowed upwardly. This force creates a camming action of the bands against the flaring surface of the brim. As a result, the engaged portions of the bands are forced inwardly toward one another as indicated by the arrows in Figure 4, thereby increasing the clinching engagement of the bands in a proportion to the pulling force exerted upon the lid. The clinching force is substantially equal to the tearing resistance of the retainer, making it practically impossible for the lids to become accidentally displaced when the article is handled.

it is a simple matter to force one of the bands upwardly withthe fingers, when the other may be disengaged in the reverse order of that shown in Figure 5.

. It will be observed that the device maintains its position' by operation of the retaining bands and may be applied to receptacles in which the knob 22 is omitted from the lid. It will also be understood that the device is not limited in use to a receptacle having a circular brim since the configuration of the retaining bandscan readily be altered to conform to non-circular brims. Moreover, usage of the device is not limited to the flaring brim disclosed herein; the retaining bands may be clinched with equal facility upon any upstanding brim which, in

cross section, includes an overhanging bead or flange at After this band is engaged,

bands having endwise portions joined to said central body, said arcuate severance lines corresponding generally to the outside diameter of said circular brim, said central body including severance lines delineating a pair of cushioning flaps, said cushioning flaps residing at opposite sides of said central body and having outer ends integral with said central body and residing between the spaced opposite ends of the arcuate severance lines of the retaining bands, said central body residing over said detachable cover, said cushioning flaps being bent downwardly and disposed between the surfaces of the detachable cover and brim, said retaining bands being bent downwardly into clinching engagement over the external surface of the upwardly and outwardly flaring brim on opposite sides thereof, whereby said retainer device confines the cover within the said brim and against the cushioning flaps which are disposed between the surfaces of the cover and brim.

2. A retaining device for holding a detachable cover in the open mouth of a receptacle or the like, said mouth delineated by an upstanding brim having outwardly diverging portions, said retaining device comprising a flat blank formed of pliable sheet material, said blank having a pair of severance lines on opposite sides thereof,

said severance lines delineating a central body and a pair of marginal retaining bands having endwise portions joined to said central body, the retaining bands having internal edges corresponding generally to the external configuration of said upstanding brim, said central body including a pair of cushioning flaps having outer ends joined to said central body, said central body residing over the said detachable cover, said cushioning flaps bent downwardly and disposed between the surfaces of the detachable cover and brim, said retaining bands being bent downwardly into clinching engagement over the outwardly diverging portions of the brim on opposite sides, whereby said retainer device confines the cover within the said brim and against the cushioning flaps which are disposed between the surfaces of the cover and brim.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,996,983 Steinbach Apr. 9, 1935 2,185,637 Lavere Jan. 2, 1940 2,461,244 Stanton Feb. 8, 1949 2,602,543 Teufel July 8, 1952 2,783,155 Haug Feb. 26, 1957 

